step into lunge
back foot moves in, drop the heel, straighten the front leg
and fold......
Parsvottanasana. five breaths and I know where to go next:
back foot lifts:
standing splits.
I got my hands on the ground and my lifted heel kicks up:
handstand
and I start counting breaths. I almost always hold my breath in a handstand cause its too hard to do anything else. this time, i just float, listen as the labored inhale seeps out as the exhale is an afterthought. and this is playing in my head space:
Finally I come down and over the blare of my headphones I hear the distant sound of applause.
My longest handstand to date had an audience and they saw the whole thing. Not only that, they applauded my effort. I look over to see
Batman, my 5lb Chihuahau, walking in my direction. He sat quietly the entire time i floated and soon as I came down shook the effort to sit still, causing his collar and tags to clank together and sound like applause. He walked over bashfully wanting to congratulate me with a wag of his tail, which for his size means his whole bottom half sways back and forth, and a lick.
Gratitude.
